Chapter 124
Chapter 124
‘Chapter 12. Leilyranda Jackmüller’
Leilyranda is a dangerous person.
The era when she was the female protagonist of the original story is gone. There was no one struggling desperately to save the world like back then, only one person obsessed with the thought of destroying the world with her reddish eyes.
But there was nothing I could do. Princess Leilyranda was already confirmed to go to war, and Cassis had to accompany her to the border region as she wished.
“You didn’t have to go.”
How could I not go?
“Perhaps living poorly but safely here would be better than dying there.”
Haha.
Through the magic vision orb, Cassis tilted his head back with a slightly tired but strangely comfortable expression.
As if there were no urgent matters, he was wearing just a thin shirt, and even that seemed to feel stuffy, as he had unbuttoned a couple of buttons.
“…”
It had already been about two months since Cassis left for the border region, half-dragged by Leilyranda.
At first, I was truly displeased with everything from beginning to end.
Why her and not me? Was it simply because Leilyranda was the original female lead?
I got angry at Cassis who wouldn’t listen to reason when I told him it was dangerous, or when he shut me down using hierarchy, and I cried alone with tears streaming down my face out of frustration.
Still, now I’ve half-resigned myself and am focusing on what I can do at the moment to try to protect the world.
“Seems like nothing special happened today.”
Probably.
“And the princess?”
She… well, she’s not a bad person. I wish you wouldn’t worry.
That’s not it, you idiot.
That person is currently devoting herself to summoning demonic beasts for the world’s destruction.
Cassis strangely kept saying things that would frustrate me, like how many more demonic beasts were discovered when he went to the battlefield with Leilyranda, and how fortunate it was that they could eliminate them in advance.
‘Be careful. Leilyranda Jackmüller is truly a dangerous person.’
‘I fully understand why Irina is so worried. But I am not weak. So you don’t need to worry.’
I just gave up.
Anyway, I had no immediate way to prove that Leilyranda was a demonic beast, or that she was summoning demonic beasts.
I looked carefully at Cassis beyond the screen, with some pity in my heart, and a very slight longing.
The magic vision orb’s quality was affected by distance. The distance was farther than any place Cassis had gone to until now.
Perhaps because of this, the image occasionally had noise.
Beyond the screen, Cassis was lightly drinking, pouring wine into a rough wooden cup.
From far away came an eerie sound like demonic beasts howling, echoing.
Cassis, familiar with the sound, showed no particular reaction.
As the night sounds filled the space between Cassis and me, he suddenly said:
“Irina, I gave up on living comfortably the moment I decided to take you to the north.”
“…Is that so?”
He must have been thinking about what I had said. That it would be better to stay in Jedo with debt than to risk his life going to a dangerous place.
Of course, I hadn’t said it so directly.
Because you are excessively diligent, sincere, and full of energy…
Tired, he relaxed his body completely and leaned back in his chair. Then he tilted his head back.
As a result, what I could see was his sharp jawline, his high nose bridge like a sculpture, and his quietly closed eyelids.
I liked those defenseless moments he occasionally showed me. It made me feel like I was someone special.
He still maintained the same posture, without moving.
After a brief silence, a low, husky voice was heard.
“There was never a chance to live ‘comfortably’ in my life anyway. Even if you hadn’t appeared before me, I would have been living a perilously dangerous life.
Like a mercenary, wandering battlefields…”
Cassis spoke as if sighing.
I looked at Cassis beyond the vision orb with my head raised on the desk.
Cassis was breathing evenly as if he had fallen asleep. Despite the poor quality of the image, I could see his chest rising and falling regularly.
Did he fall asleep?
I waited a little longer. Cassis still didn’t move.
Judging that he was half-asleep, I said softly:
“That seems too sad.”
“Does it?”
“Weren’t you sleeping?”
Only then did Cassis shake his head while rising up. A gentle smile settled on his lips.
“Irina.”
“Yes.”
“I have no interest in saving the world.”
What a ridiculous thing to say. I nodded my head as if to hear him out, but inwardly, I thought even this aspect of him was heroic.
“I know you call me a hero, but I am not.”
“That could be. But you would have been a hero to someone. When Lord Cassis appears at a scene where demonic beasts are rampaging, most people are relieved.”
Ah, we’re saved. At least we won’t die here, they think.
It doesn’t matter how Cassis thinks of himself. What matters is how people think of Cassis.
When a crisis strikes, people look to Cassis.
It’s an unbelievable change from when he was once ridiculed as a bankrupt grand duke.
Cassis looked at me with his red eyes while bringing the wooden cup to his lips. Perhaps because his face was partially hidden by the cup, it was difficult to read his thoughts.
“I was proud of Lord Cassis once. Ah, I still hold that pride. But recently, my fears have started to overshadow it.”
No matter what, Cassis is still my hero. He is my knight.
“How kind.”
My heart sank as Cassis gently smiled while meeting my eyes.
Momentarily flustered and unable to speak properly, I finally moved my mouth.
“Well, I suppose so. So, what was Lord Cassis going to say?”
As if trying to hurriedly change the subject, I shifted the focus of the conversation to Cassis. Looking at my flusteredness as if it were cute, he willingly took over the conversation.
“Let me see. I have no intention of saving the world. I did have something to say after that.”
Had?
He drained the wine in his wooden cup and stretched.
“On second thought, I won’t say it.”
What?
“How can you do that?”
Even as I rose from my seat in indignation, Cassis didn’t mind much. He just laughed “Haha” pleasantly and straightened his posture.
He, who had been slouching all along, sat up straight in his chair and pulled it close to the table. As a result, he appeared much closer in the image.
It must be dawn there.
“Are you really not going to tell me?”
“If you stay up late, tomorrow will be tough. Go to bed soon.”
Cassis continued in a soft tone, as if trying to soothe a child.
“Sleep well, Irina. I’ll contact you again next time. Goodbye.”
He reached his hand toward the vision orb as if to end the call.
“…Yes, good night, Lord Cassis.”
After hesitating briefly, I added:
“You really need to be careful of Princess Leilyranda.”
“I understand.”
Only then could I end the call with peace of mind. I nodded and extended my hand toward the vision orb.
“Irina!”
At that moment, Cassis called me.
“Contact me again. I’ll be waiting as long as I can wait. Understand?”
I remained blank for a moment, then barely managed to nod in response. Then the image was cut off with a snap. My room became quiet again. The eerie howling of demonic beasts was no longer audible.
* * *
Two months after Cassis and Leilyranda left for the border region.
Unable to join the war, I remained in Jedo. It was the same situation as with the Jenoria Mountains.
But unlike then…
“News that demonic beasts have appeared in large numbers at the Alias coast!”
“The same is true for Isein!”
Demonic beasts began pouring out from all over the empire.
It was the image of destruction that I had only read as instructions in the original game.
The entire empire fell into chaos. Usually, when something happened, it was Cassis who traveled around to resolve it.
But Cassis was now fighting gigantic demonic beasts at the border region. He’s not in a position to return to Jedo. Moreover, with him is Princess Leilyranda.
People from the imperial court, including the Emperor, couldn’t tell the Grand Duke to return alone, leaving Princess Leilyranda behind.
So the empire fell into chaos.
No matter how much the imperial court dispatched the imperial knights, and armies carefully raised by each family defended, demonic beasts were strong entities.
Especially since the already dead were moving again, people could raise their swords against those who were once comrades and family, but they couldn’t bring them down.
The damage was severe.
In such a situation, I was the one who had to move directly.
The system, which had become unresponsive after my last conversation with Leilyranda, only displayed the sentence [Update in progress] no matter how many times I opened and closed it.
The fortunate thing is that I can still check quests that arrived in the past, see the debt status, and that the inventory or skill window is still valid.
Just no new quests arrived, and I couldn’t communicate with the system.
“First… let’s send supplies. And mercenaries.”
“Yes.”
“As always, relay the news to House Blende.”
It was still okay. Even without quests, I knew that instead of being holed up in the mansion selling ice cream, I needed to move directly to counter the demonic beasts.
This is because the places where demonic beasts were erupting were all either where I was directly operating ‘Lu & Cream’ stores or where I had established ‘Lu & Cream’ stores through contracts with the families of those territories.
And places with ‘Lu & Cream’ stores have formed delivery routes that are incomparably faster and safer than other regions.
“We would have been in big trouble without Isolini.”
“…Most people across the empire would likely believe that they would have faced great trouble without you, Miss Irina.”
“Is that so?”
The meaning of having fast and safe delivery possible means not only materials but also quick information.
I was obtaining information about demonic beasts faster than anyone else in the entire empire. All thanks to the logistics created to supply ice cream to ‘Lu & Cream’ stores.
